The Dogs of Toronto Animal Services South

They were walking around the park. The first time by, they saw a man sitting on a bench with his Doberman beside him. Second time round, the man was still there with his dog. Next time round the man was gone and the dog was tied to a tree. The man never returned.

The first time I meet Rocky, he is wagging his stubby tail in his kennel and of course this reminds me of my own Rocky. I take him out and clip the leash on him. He is a solidly built Doberman. It's like he's got the midsection of a Mastiff.

He seems a sombre fellow, this Rocky. I don't think he's aloof but just that he won't immediately go up to every stranger to ask for attention or affection. Once he gets to know you, though, it's a different story. Then it's all muzzling your hand and "touch me touch me touch me".

At nine years old, Rocky is a mature dog who must be wondering just what happened to make his former life disappear.

For adoption information on this dog and other dogs (and cats and other animals), please visit Toronto Animal Services.

2 Comments to “Rocky - Doberman”

This post made me think of Moses being left in the reeds by his mother. I wonder if the man who left Rocky was watching to see what happened, or if he just tied him up and walked away. I hope Rocky finds his own palace and people who treat him like the Prince that he is.

He has the most beautiful eyes but they seem to be saying "Why? What did I do wrong?" I would love to believe there is a really good reason he was tied to that tree but, sorry I'm just too cynical, I guess...I can't think of any reason that's good enough to abandon a nine year old dog. I saw him on the TAS page yesterday and thought "God, I would love to have him". Now that I know his whole story, I want him even more.

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A request

The reason for this blog is to help get specific dogs adopted from TAS but equally important is to try to normalize the idea of shelter dogs being just as good and just as desirable as any other dogs including those which are regularly merchandised by backyard breeders, puppy millers and those few remaining pet store owners who still feel a need to sell live animals. The single greatest stigma shelter animals still face is the belief that shelter animals are substandard animals. Anyone who has had enough experience with shelter animals knows this is untrue but the general public hasn't had the same experiences you've had. They see a nice dog photo in a glossy magazine and too many of them would never think of associating that dog with a dog from a shelter. After all, no one abandons perfectly good dogs, right? Unfortunately, as we all know, perfectly good dogs are abandoned all the time.

The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.

Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.

So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------